Trolling plate attachment



Jan. 11, 1949. OT E TROLLING PLATE ATTACHMENT Filed June 26, 1946 Patented Jan. 11, 1949 UNIT ED" T I CJE' TROL-LING PLATE' ATTAGHMENT Edward R; Kottke, Ste Paul; Minn;

Application-June 26, 1946', Serial No. 679318" The-present invention relates: to trollingtplates and more particularly to anarrangementproviding atrol'ling plate which will be readily/attachable to and detachable from: substantially" any typeofboat propeller and which can b'eyfixed in operativeposition securely against loss: or undesired separation.-

In the-type of fishingoperation known as:- trolling, when practiced-With a motorboat; it is necessary to propel the boat at a rate of speed-which;

A-i primary requisite of all :such baffles-J is the:

capacity to mount and dismountthem witha minimum of difficulty and delayiandfthelcapacity to fix themsecurely in mounted'position so that they'will not become accidentally di'sengagedxand lost.

havingtheforegoing desirable properties, along with others, including simplioity-of-fdesign, econ-'- omy of manufacture, durability of construction, and othen advantages which will:.suflicien"tlyzappear from thefoll'owingideseription,of aipreferred form of embodimentlillustratedin the-accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is asidetelevational View of theat tachment mounted inoperative position on a propeller;

Fig. 2 is -.a similar view with. the' trollin-g plate removed from the propeller;

Fig; 3 is a rearelevational view,- ,on arelatively enlarged'sscale, showing the" attachment mounted inoperativeposition; I

Fig; 4--is a-smaller: scalezcrossi-sectionalrview taken'onth'elline l'l ofiFigz 3:;and

Figa 5' isra'view similartocthat ofzFige; l'eshow ing the manner: in which: the? trolling. iplate.-2is-'.'=attazhed and (letachech In the drawing the referencescharacter: I: :designates apropeller: of :any "conventionaltypewcommonly used'with motorboat-s: As sshown,-. thisqormpeller' is part of an outboard: motor assembl-yfl having the customary rudder fins: 3; 3;.bIutwitiisrto be: understood that the 'propel'l'ermayrbe ofirany other'type and the assembly may; be madet ldifieren'tly; either inboard'or 'outboard. Thedetailssof The most successful of these. means: I

The present invention providesan attachment aclaims. (cum-435) r pins:

. 2... the-propeller: and; its drive: form n-o part of -the puesentt-invention.

Broadly speaking, the invention includes-apropullsion-retardingab'afiledn theform' of a plate which has plurality of apertures: receiving terinitially enlarged. shoulders formed on armsjor the like which areapermanently' mounted: 'on =the propeller; The plate is; attache to 'thepropeller by slipping the arm enlargements through @the: plate apertures, and the plate. isuthenheld: in fixed position;.byi interposingzan obstruction between it andithe shoulders so that the: plate cannot slip off the: arms: by movement in a sreverse direction from that by which it :was applied to: them-.

In the preferred embodiment of :the invention illustrated: in: :thea drawing" the" arms. which are permanently carriedzby: the :propeller are made as:-' part of a fixture:-4.-. Thiszfixtureincludes a base plate portion 51central1y= apertureoli to receive 1 the-threadediend of ftheipropelleri shaft 6 andbe held thereon-shy the usual nut11 which isspresent for the-ipurpose of'. holdingfthe propellerthub18 ontthershaftj 'IItleJb'asePEPhaS'Ja plurality-of.1arms '9; preferablyi'three-inlnumber; turned :rearw'ardly :\from l the: edges -iofi the base: and projecting" substantially parallel "to the axis of i the shaft and substantially equidistantly around: it, and" term-inatingviin enlargementsxorz'shoul drs 902341;; th free endsrofithe: arms. In the illustratedzembodiment. o-fi the-t invention :these: enlargements com prise r short .r'ev'ersel-y bent portions of the :arms. They may bez: made; otherwise They may be formeoli simply as right angularly' bent. flanges, or'zthey m'aswbe thickened lugs or securelyiafii'xed Irnany even-t they presentrforwardly facing: abrupt J'sh owld'ers:

The fixture- 4". thus forms a sort of: cage or spider which is permanently secured by the nut Tito: :therpropeller: shaft and remains theretduring normalnperation ofttheqoropeller: Insuch'operm tion-the fiX-ture rotates with the' xshaft andaproducesrlittlezifrany retarding effectzonthe-propeller effort.

Thesattachablezttrollingipiate rassembly includes aprincipally-'21; plate l I which :mam b-elz oirc'ularfin means may take any of a number of forms but, according to the principles of the present invention, an essential feature of each form is the interposition, between the plate and each enlargement ll), of means covering enough of each opening ii to prevent passage of the enlargements iii therethrough.

The preferred locking means comprises a disc i3, best made circular in shape and having a circumference large enough to place the outer marginal portions of the disc in obstructing position between the enlargements l and the openings l2, as best appears in Fig. 4. In this position, assuming the disc is kept from lateral shifting in the plane of its surface, the plate H is kept from slipping rearwardly off the fixture 4.

Forward movement of the plate, toward the propeller i, is not prevented by the disc, but in actual practice the pressure of the stream from the propeller prevents such forward movement and the result is a secure positioning of the plate at the outer extremity of the fixture 4, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

If, as is preferred, the arms 9 are made three or more in number, lateral shifting of the disc 3 is prevented by the engagement of the arms with the periphery of the disc, as shown in Fig. 3. Pressure from the propeller stream need not be relied upon as the sole force holding the plate H in its position shown in Fig. 4 if, as is preferred, the arms 9 be made slightly resilient and rearwardly flaring so that they are inherently biased into engagement with the radially outer margins of the openings l2. By such construction the arms frictionally hold the plate in its rear or operative position, as shown in Fig. 4, quite independently of operation of the propeller. Indeed, the engagement may be and preferably is made sufficiently tight to permit the propeller to be reversed (which can be done with most inboard motors, although it is not common for outboard motors to be equipped with reversing gear) and the boat to be run astern at any moderate speed without causing pressure of the water from the rear to push the plate H toward the propeller. However, the frictional fit is not too tight to keep the plate from being manually slid back on the arms to the full line position of Fig. 5. A very convenient relationship of the arms, plate and locking disc is provided by making the circumference of the disc great enough to expand the arms positively into engagement with the radially outer margins of the openings 12 when the parts are in operative position as shown in Fig. 4. In this way the locked arrangement can be made very secure.

The disc [3 is best made captive on the plate H and movable to and from its locking position as shown in Fig. 4. All of this is conveniently effected by mounted a pin IS, in the form of a common type of bolt, so as to project rearwardly from the plate II. This pin stands through a diametrical slot [6 formed in the disc, wide enough to pass the shank of the pin but too narrow topass the head I! of the pin. The slot permits the .disc to be rocked relatively to the pin to assume the inclined position shown in Fig.

:5. -The disc can be tilted to this position when its movement is not prevented by the shoulders ID, i. e., when the plate H and disc l3 are moved.

on the fixture 4 toward the propeller, as shown in full lines in Fig 5. In this positionof the parts the disc l3 can be set edgewise between the shoulders I0 so that those shoulders will not prevent passage of the disc between them. In

this way the disc and the plate can be slipped off the fixture by moving them from the full line position of Fig. 5 to and beyond the dotted line position thereof, and thus the plate is removed from the fixture.

The plate is mounted on the fixture by positioning the parts in the same way and passing the enlargements through the openings 12 to the full line position of Fig. 5. Thereupon the disc is rocked to a plane parallel to that of the plate H, behind the shoulders I0, and the plate is moved to its dotted line position of Fig. 5, into engagement with the disc l3, and the parts are thus securely held in operative position, as has been explained.

The fixture, plate and disc may all be made of I sheet metal, and of course these parts should be made corrosion resistant by suitable plating orby selecting non-ferrous stock.

It is to be understood that the broad principles of the invention are capable of being modified from the specific, although preferred, embodiment which has been illustrated and described. It is also to be understood that not all the features of construction which have been specified hereinabove need be used together in each practical embodiment, since some of them are optional. The spirit of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

An attachment for connecting a trolling plate to a propeller shaft comprising a plurality of arms adapted to project rearwardly from the shaft and each having a transversely extending shoulder formed on its free end for passing a perforation in the plate to mount the plate on the arms, and a locking disc adapted to be interposed between each shoulder and the plate for obstructing passage of the shoulders through the perforations and thereby holding the plate on the arms.

2. An attachment for connecting a trolling plate to a propeller shaft comprising a fixture adapted to be secured to the shaft and having a plurality of terminally enlarged arms projecting rearwardly for passing perforations in the plate to mount the plate on the fixture, and a movable locking disc having portions adapted to be interposed between the plate and the enlargements for obstructing passage of the enlargements through the perforations and thereby holding the plate on the fixture.

3. An attachment for connecting a trolling plate to a propeller shaft comprising a fixture adapted to be secured to the shaft and having a plurality of arms adapted to be substantially equally spaced around the axis of the shaft and to extend substantially parallel thereto, a shoulder formed on the free end of each arm for passing a perforation in the plate and thereby mounting the plate on the fixture by penetration of said arms and shoulders through said perforations, and a locking disc positioned between the plate and shoulders for obstructing passage of the shoulders through the perforations and thereby fixing the plate on the fixture.

4. An attachment for connecting a trolling plate to a propeller shaft comprising a plurality of arms adapted to project rearwardly from the shaft and each having a transversely extending shoulder formed on its free end for passing a perforation in the plate to mount the plate on the arms, a locking disc interposed between the plate and the shoulders, and means connecting the disc to the plate for tilting movement between a posiobstruct passage of the shoulders through the perforations and thereby hold the plate on the arms and a position in which the disc is inclined relatively to the shaft axis so that the margins of the disc may be passed between the shoulders to permit the plate to be withdrawn from the arms.

5. A trolling plate attachment as claimed in claim 4 in which the means connecting the disc to the plate comprises a pin projectin rearwardly from the plate extending through a substantially diametrical slot in the disc and having a head holding the disc captive on the pin.

6. A trolling plate attachment as claimed in claim 4 in which the arms are formed on a fixture and are substantially equidistantly spaced around said axis.

7. A trolling plate attachment as claimed in claim 4 for a shaft which has a threaded end and in which the arms are formed on a fixture having a centrally apertured base adapted to receive the shaft and to be held thereon by a nut engaging the threaded end of the shaft and are substantially equidstantly spaced around said axis.

8. A trolling plate attachment as claimed in claim 4 for a shaft which has a threaded end, in which the arms are formed on a fixture having a centrally apertured based adapted to receive the shaft and to be held thereon by a nut engaging the threaded end of the shaft and having said arms extending from the base and substantially equidistantly spaced around said axis, and in which the means connecting the disc to the plate comprises a pin projecting rearwardly from the plate extending through a substantially diametrical solt in the disc and having a head holding the disc captive on the pin.

9. An attachment for connecting a trolling plate to a propeller shaft comprising a plurality of arms adapted to project rearwardly from the propeller and flaring slightly outwardly from the propeller axis, a forwardly facing shoulder formed on the rear end of each arm for passing an aperture in the plate, and a locking disc adapted to be interposed between the plate and the shoulders to expand the arms into engagement with the margins of the apertures in the plate and to obstruct said apertures to prevent passage of the shoulders therethrough, thereby holding the plate against rearward movement off the arms.

EDWARD R. KOTTKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,908,865 Richardson May 16, 1933 2,226,007 McGerte Dec. 24, 1940 2,265,625 Buck Dec, 9, 1941 

